Tag Archives: Grandpa David
Lobster grilled cheese? Yes, please!
I highly recommend this sandwich from The Grilled Cheese & Crab Cake Co. that mom and David brought back for me today!
I also found this magazine article about the restaurant.
Family beach walk
It was chilly when we all went out for a walk after dinner, so Katie dressed in her jean jacket before she outgrows it!
The chilly weather certainly didn’t stop Owen from playing in the tidal pools!
Family Breakfast
Sunrise with Grandpa
Myrtle Beach!
Well, technically Garden City Beach, just south of Myrtle Beach.
It was a trip—so to speak—getting here, as I had to load most of the car myself in the rain and then drive the first hour in a major downpour…but really the drive was uneventful.
Hauling in the first of two carts full:
Then Owen asked grandpa David to go down to the ocean. Gramma Jean and I watched from the 15th floor:
Then I decided to be a good mom and go down and take a few pictures (since Gramma Jean could stay with a napping Katie). This is Owen’s new Aqua-Zooka toy!
Coming home:
Miss Katie crawling over and through everything:
Grandma Jean says:
It’s been chilly, but we’ve taken Owen down to the beach and he loves running in and out of the water, even though it is about 52 degrees. His little legs were RED when we brought him back in he first day! He had a smile on his face, so that was worth it. Grampa took him down the first day and was wearing his heavy coat and fur hat while Owen had shorts on.
Happy 4th Birthday, Owen!
Fun with leftover Lego parts!
Balloon fight with Grannie Lin!
Posing with his presents—and in his birthday shirt—for another birthday picture!
Katie in her new party dress…with Grannie (and a gift from Grannie):
And trying to peek around me to watch TV like Owen does:
Owen’s finished (lame) Lego cakes:
The appetizer set up:
Attempting to Skype with Gramma Jean/Grandpa David and Grandma Marsha/Uncle Rob (it didn’t work too well—our network couldn’t handle it):
Most of the attendees:
Singing Happy Birthday:
Really excited about his new Xbox Sesame Street game from Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob:
And the guitar I found on clearance for $3 (and took the batteries out ahead of time!):
He did pretty well opening presents…except he really loved the first things he opened (Lego Cars and a Ninja Lego) so he wanted to stop right then and play but we made him keep going. 🙂 We did stop about halfway through, though, because he was losing interest and really wanted to play. Which was just fine.
One last attempt at a good Katie pic:
Our attempted family photo:
And just for comparison…last year’s photo:
Going Away Picnic
We wanted to have a picnic like last year…perfect weather, fun for Owen in the pool, a bunch of friends over, some good food, and a new family photo. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate…and neither did Owen. We got a decent photo out of the 25 attempts…
But it doesn’t even come close to the apparently once-in-a-lifetime shot we got last year (one of two attempts).
But he was super cute the morning of the picnic when he discovered he could climb up onto the bay window ledge in the living room. What fun!
And he loved Gramma Jean’s mower…when it was turned off. She turned it on to give him a ride and it was “NOISY!”
Then Tom helped him pick a flower for me—my first flower! Sigh. :heart:
And last but not least…Gramma Jean got Owen a pop-up tube/tent contraption…which he LOVED. I’m not sure where it’s going to fit in either house, but we’ll have to find a place.
Kentucky Vacation
We just got back from a week’s vacation in Kentucky. Why Kentucky, you might be asking? Well, that was a fairly central mid-point for all of the Schwalmlettes & Schmitlettes (the nickname for the Schwalm kids and me) to drive and meet for a family reunion!
It was really nice, since we never all get to see each other at Christmas like we used to (see what having kids does?). 🙂 However, it wasn’t QUITE like old times—there wasn’t much staying up until 3am playing games and drinking and talking like in the old days…since there are kids to deal with now. (I might hazard a guess that I had the worst of it, since I still have to get up with the boy for night feedings, which meant I was usually in bed by 10 each night.) But we still all had fun visiting and relaxing and playing Wii games (and more to the point, watching the kids play Wii games) and watching the kids’ production of Three Little Pigs and Annie!
Owen was the absolute HIT of the week for the kids. They just about loved him to pieces! They always wanted to be in his face playing with him or kissing him or hugging him or touching him or helping feed him. I am sure he was overwhelmed, but it was very cute! Here’s what it looked like a lot of the time:
We also learned that Owen does NOT like a lot of noise and commotion. We had him in the room with us when the kids were singing or boxing on the Wii (both LOUD and CRAZY) and he was NOT a happy camper. As soon as we took him out of the room, he quieted down and was happy again. A kid after my own heart! :yes:
There was a hot tub (which I had been really excited about), but the weather was so warm that I never went in. It pretty much just got used by the kids (that is, after Kath turned it town to like 80° so it was more pool-like) who really enjoyed it!
We were out of cell service range, but the house did have internet so all us geeks didn’t have to go through withdrawal. I think we had three laptops and four iPhones—sometimes all going at once!
One day we all went to Cumberland Gap National Historical Park and managed to get this family photo:
Of course, it was over WAY too soon…and before you know it, we were packing and on the road home. At least we discovered we have a pretty good little traveler—Owen slept most of the way and we only had to feed him once during the 8-hour trip (although we had to feed him the moment we got to our destination, both ways!).
Stay tuned for a link to the entire set of pictures!